Officials of La Pointe Iron Co., one of the owners of the property that Gogebic Taconite unsuccessfully sought to develop as a massive open pit mine, met with local representatives in Hurley to discuss reviving mining plans.

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James Cleveland looked around the North Division High School gymnasium, and he smiled big.

"This is just so wonderful to see in our city," he said. "Black men, hundreds of them, dancing and bonding with their daughters."

With all the negative things highlighted on the nightly news about African-American men in Milwaukee, some of the men were a little perturbed not to see more media covering Milwaukee's 11th annual Daddy/Daughter Dance on Feb. 15.

"More positive events like this should be highlighted," said Cleveland, who won tickets from me to take his daughter, Angel, 7, to the dance.

I awarded tickets to the sold-out event to the person who wrote the best essay on why he wanted to attend the dance with his daughter. Cleveland's mother-in-law, Sandy Jones, actually wrote a heartfelt letter on Cleveland's behalf.

She described Cleveland as a "wonderful son-in-law," who works for Running Rebels. On a daily basis, she said, Cleveland follows up with young men assigned to the program in an effort to keep them from being incarcerated.

When she went to Milwaukee Public Schools' Central Office to purchase dance tickets for Cleveland, she was disappointed to learn that the event was sold out. But she was happy to know that so many men were taking the opportunity to spend that special night with their daughters.

"My son-in-law and granddaughter are terribly disappointed that they may not be able to attend. I also forgot to mention that my granddaughter is a straight 'E' first-grade student (E=excellent). This was my way of recognizing her for being such a good student," Jones wrote.

When I caught up with Cleveland at the dance, he said while it was great seeing so many fathers involved in their daughters' lives, it was just the first step. "Things would be a lot better if more of us were married," he said.

Cleveland, 29, has been married for 10 years, and while it has not always been easy, he said he cannot imagine raising his daughter and his 2-year-old son without the help of his wife.

When he got married, several people tried to talk him out of it, saying that he was still in college and too young. "I look at them now, and I'm still married, but they're not," he said. "I had really good role models. I was there when my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary."

While studies show that a marriage produces better health, higher income and helps children to do better in school, marriage rates in the black community have declined 50% since 1960, according to Angela Robbins, executive director of Compel Them to Come Inc., a Milwaukee-based group that focuses on building strong families through marriage.

"The young man was right," Robbins said. "Marriage in the black community has been put on the back burner, and we have to change that."

According to Robbins:

■31% of Milwaukee's black families are headed by a married couple, the second-lowest rate in the nation.

■46% of all city births were to black mothers; 94% of those women were unmarried.

■Blacks were the most married of all races in 1960; they are the least married today.

■Nationally, 82% of African-American babies are born to single mothers.

From March 21 to 23, Compel will celebrate black marriage during National Black Marriage Day. The celebration will be held at the Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake.

"We need to celebrate healthy marriage, and that gets people to talking about it," Robbins said.

For couples thinking about marriage, Cleveland encouraged them to observe and talk to people who have been married for a while. "It worked for us," he said. "But people have to remember that marriage is hard work. It's not easy. We got married around the same time as four other couples, and two of them are divorced."

Regardless of marriage, it was good to see men bonding with their daughters at the dance. Some of the men were dressed in their Sunday best, while others came more casual. There were fathers as young as 19 and some well over 50.

Municipal Court Judge Derek Mosley, who brought his daughters to the dance, said he remembered when the dance only had a few hundred men. It was great to see more than 800 men with their daughters in Milwaukee. When I arrived with my daughter and her cousin, we actually saw people turned away because the event was sold out.

Adante Jordan, 38, who brought his daughter, Nebiyah, 12, said the event builds memories for his daughter that will last a lifetime. "I'm trying to foster a tradition, and events like this give my daughter a chance to see Daddy in a different light, and hopefully that's something that we can continue to build on. I want her to know that she can come to me and talk to me about anything," he said.

Men need to keep in mind that they don't need to wait for an event like this to talk and bond with their daughters. There are many negative influences out there, so fathers should take every opportunity to build that bond with their daughters — or sons — because kids grow up so fast.

Every man I talked to about the dance said part of the reason he was there was to create a lasting memory. Judging by the smiles on the girls' faces, I would say that was a mission accomplished.